if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. again, there is no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthiest. remember, it's only 2%. >> with both sides in washington publicly digging in their heels, how much will the fiscal cliff impact the credit markets? ben garber joins us for more. ben, good morning. clearly we're focused on the down side risk from the budget standoff and then there's beyond that. let's talk about the short term at the moment. what impact is that having? >> i think people have to be defensive in the short term. there will be a lot of rancor on both sides. so within the next month or so, as the fiscal cliff debate developments, there is limited up side for interest rates and it's hard to see stocks moving much higher. >> so let's suppose we get an agreement. that should increase confidence. does that mean the economy performs better next year than we expect and then what's the feed through from that? >> yeah, i think while we're now focused